After months of planning and preparation, Toms River Regional Schools welcomed crews from dancker to the campus of High School North for the highly anticipated installation of furniture and learning tools that will transform a classroom at the school into a new Active Learning Center. The district was able to complete this transformation after being awarded a grant valued at $65,000 from Steelcase Education.

dancker, based in Somerville, NJ, is a leader in providing interior solutions and a premier partner with Steelcase. In line with their Active Learning Center Grant, Steelcase Education designed a new learning environment for the classroom that will officially open for sophomore and junior English classes taught by Kit Coe and Mike Pape at the start of the 2017-2018 school year.

Over the course of the past few months, members of the district’s Facilities Department worked to overhaul the classroom to get it ready for the installation of the furniture. The crews repainted the room, refurbished the floors, removed old desks, cabinets and blinds, and completed other necessary repairs and cleaning.

The new room follows the design of Steelcase’s Verb classroom and will boast flexible seating arrangements, sit/stand options, rolling whiteboards, and a Campfire Lounge where students and teachers will be able to sit in a more relaxed setting and collaborate on projects together. There will no longer be a static classroom with traditional desks and the classic lecture style of teaching will be replaced with a more learner-active approach. In turn, students will be more engaged, able to collaborate in groups or work individually, and be able to use other resources and tools that will enhance their traditional textbooks.

Toms River Regional Schools was one of 15 recipients of this grant and is the only school in the tri-state area that was selected. The district looks forward to using the new space as a model classroom for future updates to other classrooms, continuing professional development in the area of “Learner-Active, Technology-Infused Classrooms” (LATIC), and is excited to see how the new classroom will transform traditional teaching and learning styles. 

Stay tuned for the big reveal in September!  

You can read more about the Active Learning Center Grant award here.